In 1918 the British (or should I say, Suffolk) artist Alfred Munnings toured the camps of the Canadian foresters working in Normandy in order to paint the scenes he found there. This new French book includes some fine Munnings pictures from the visit, including the canvas on the front cover.
Another great recorder was the French photographer Paul Lancre. This book contains many fine photographs by him or from his collection.
The theme of the book is the work of the Canadian foresters in northern France during the second half of the First World War. It is the catalogue of an exhibition at the Orne Department Archives 19 April to 2 July 2010, then at the museum of French Emigration to Canada, Tourouvre, 14 July to 31 December 2010.
The book deals firstly with the Canadian Forestry Corps: recruitment and organisation in Canada; deployment and development from Britain and in France; techniques of forestry work; Sir Alfred Munnings's 1918 paintings.
Secondly, the exploitation of the forests in the Orne region: the various forestry camps; foresters at work, photographs by Paul Lancre; portraits of people involved; the social side of the camps; Armistice and the return to Canada.
Old Pond is pleased to have supplied several of the photograph scans used in the book, copies of images originally from the Imperial War Museum and included in Farming and Forestry on the Western Front.
Haches de Guerre [war axes]: les bûcherons [loggers] canadiens dans les forêts normandes (1916-1919), Conseil général de l'Orne. Hardback 280 x 239 mm, 144 pages including 326 illustrations. ISBN 978-2-86061-03309. 28 Euros. Further information: Pôle jeunesse culture, 6-10 avenue de Basingstoke, BP 528 - 61017 Alençon Cedex, France.
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